Gosford Park Movie Review 2001

Altman's ensemble take on a British country house murder mystery set in 1932 that showcases both the upstairs and downstairs inhabitants. Actually, the murder is given short shrift in this look at the manners and mores of the snobs and their servants. Sir William McCordle (Gambon), a self-made man, is giving a weekend shooting party whose guests seem mainly to be the grasping relatives of his cold, aristocratic wife, Lady Sylvia (Scott Thomas). He's the murder victim but nobody really seems to care much (he's not a very nice guy). There's even a couple of American interlopers--movie producer Morris Weissman (Balaban) and his "valet" Henry (Phillippe). Keeping who's who straight is confusing and the pacing is sedate but the cinematography is gorgeous and the cast are all-pro.

Distribution

Universal Studios Home Video, 100 Universal City Plz., Universal City, CA 91608-9955, Phone: (818)777-1000, Fax: (818)866-1483, URL: http://www.universalstudios.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 137 minutes.
Originally from British.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Period Piece: 1930s, Great Britain, Satire & Parody, The Help: Male, The Help: Female, Homicide, Not-So-True Identity, Family Ties, Marriage, Filmmaking, Jealousy

Screenplay

Julian Fellowes

Cast

Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, Bob Balaban, Ryan Phillippe, Kelly Macdonald, Clive Owen, Jeremy Northam, Emily Watson, Richard E. Grant, Charles Dance, Geraldine Somerville, Tom Hollander, James Wilby, Sophie Thompson, Stephen Fry, Ron Webster, Camilla Rutherford, Claudie Blakley, Natasha Wrightman, Jeremy Swift, Teresa Churcher

Cinematography

Andrew Dunn

Director

Robert Altman

Music

Patrick Doyle

Other

Peter Glossop, Tim Squyres, John Frankish, Jenny Beavan, Stephen Altman

Producer

Robert Altman, Bob Balaban, David Levy, Sandcastle 5 Productions, Medusa Film, Chicagofilms, USA Films

Awards

Oscars 2001: Orig. Screenplay; British Acad. 2001: Costume Des., Film; Golden Globes 2002: Director (Altman); N.Y. Film Critics 2001: Director (Altman), Screenplay, Support. Actress (Mirren); Natl. Soc. Film Critics 2001: Director (Altman), Screenplay, Support. Actress (Mirren); Screen Actors Guild 2001: Support. Actress (Mirren), Cast; Writers Guild 2001: Orig. Screenplay; Broadcast Film Critics 2001: Cast.